So, we've made it to Canada. True to what I thought I knew, we left Charlottesville on Tuesday, June 19th. True to what we prayed for and asked several folks to pray for, our time at the border & customs office was a smooth as possible. We got the nicest border officer, there was no wait and we were on our way after only about half an hour going over the paperwork in the office. God is good, all the time.
Wednesday morning brought some shocking news, a beloved cousin of Super-Awesome's (the closest to an uncle that he has) passed into the presence of the Lord. Glitches with the phone service at the cottage had us drive into the city to use friends' phone for Super-Awesome's phone interview. God is good, all the time.
Thursday we received some voicemail messages on our "American" cell phone, and I was having trouble receiving them, because any call I make from Canada I have to redial the 10 digits. I don't have 10 digits to redial when I call voicemail. However, sitting on the dock where I get a teeny bit of reception, I managed to figure out that it's really simple when you call from a landline... and was able to retrieve the messages: one from a dear friend and two from our moving company. Sadly, by the time I received the message, the office for the moving company was closed. God is good, all the time.
Friday I called in to our old doctor's office because I needed some scripts filled and lo an behold they had a 10am appointment open (it was 9am when I received this information... and it takes about an hour to drive into the city). Cell service is sketchy both at the cottage and on the road into the city, until you get to a certain point. When we got to that certain magical point where service becomes consistent I discovered that there were messages on both of our phones. Remember Thursday's issues with checking the phone messages on the American phone? No can do. So, the new Canadian phone hadn't even had our voicemail recording set up, but I could easily retrieve that message and it said that the doctor I'd been scheduled with had been called away and her appointments for the day had to be rescheduled. God is good, all the time.
Also Friday morning I was able to get in touch with the moving company and learned that it was a little more complicated than I had thought to get our household goods trailer cleared. We couldn't just go into the moving company's office and hand over the papers we'd been given at the border. We have to go to a Canada Customs office and the one he directed us to go to is another hour and a half past the city we already drive an hour to get to. But hey... when you're used to 12 hour drives... 2.5 hours doesn't seem like such a big deal. God is good, all the time.
Saturday found us happily back at the cottage for a day of rest. Everyone was exhausted. Everyone, except Super-Awesome, had a good nap that afternoon. Super-Awesome's mom had been staying with her cousin's wife since his passing and other friends had come and she was able to come back to the cottage. Emotionally drained, and still in shock, we are all grieving in different ways. Super-Awesome didn't nap because he was preparing for this interview on Tuesday in the North. God is good, all the time.
Sunday we were back in the city to remember the Lord and worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ at the assembly we had been in fellowship with for 8 years before our move to Charlottesville. What a blessing! God is good, all the time.
Sunday also found us going out for lunch with Super-Awesome's parents. Certain heavy handed hints were put forth by Super-Awesome that eating at a certain restaurant in the city that he didn't have access to while we lived in the South, would be... super-awesome. For my American readers, this restaurant features rotisserie chicken. Within Christian circles it is euphemistically called "Christian Chicken" because that is where you will find lots of Christians after church on Sunday. I know in the US the euphemism "Christian Chicken" refers to another chain, operated by Christians and closed on Sunday (which I miss intently!). Super-Map got a bit of sun on Saturday, and that combined with drinking lots of chocolate milk at alarming speeds & chicken and fries, ended our visit to the restaurant with vomit being spewed everywhere. Amazingly wonderful staff cleaned up everything, including my purse, which thankfully was zipped shut and became a perfect bowl of vomit. Hey! He didn't throw up in our car on the 2 hour drive to my mom's... God is good, all the time.
Sunday evening found my whole family together for supper. Something my mom treasures, as it doesn't happen too frequently. The cousins and aunts & uncles all got to take a dip in the pool. God is good, all the time.
In the will of the Lord:
Today, the super-kids will stay with my mom and we will head North and take a supper break with Super-Awesome's aunt (in the Gateway to the North) before reaching our northern destination for a good night's sleep. God is good, all the time.
Tomorrow, Super-Awesome has his interview with the university. I will wander around the city and see the sights. We will be in prayer for Super-Awesome's family as they have the funeral at 11am for Super-Awesome's uncle. God is good, all the time.
Thursday, we'll be back with the Super-In-Laws and be off to sort out having our belongings released by customs so that they may be returned to the storage facility where they will stay until we know where the Lord is taking/sending/keeping us. God is good, all the time.
GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME
Whether things in our lives are good, hard, unknown, sad, happy, does not change the fact that God is immutable (unchangeable) and one of His attributes is goodness. It's easy to say God is good all the time, when things are going well, but it is no less true when things are very difficult or we don't know what's going on.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
